More victims of kidnap-for-ransom syndicates who were rescued by Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson when he was still a police officer have stepped forward to support the 2022 presidential candidacy of the Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer.
In a recent video on Lacson’s official “iPing” channel on Facebook and YouTube, Ruiz Saez-Co recounted his ordeal with KFR gangs as he thanked the former anti-kidnapping task force leader for his and his police group’s heroics, which saved many lives during his 30 years as a law enforcer.
The scion of a Filipino-Chinese family, Saez-Co recalled being ushered into Lacson’s own car as soon as he was rescued, yet the longtime public servant did not step out of the vehicle to meet the media or grandstand at the scene.
“He is a true people person. He does not rush or make hasty decisions. He’s down-to-earth and had no media coverage [when they rescued me]. My father offered [a reward] to them but they declined. He said they were just doing their job. If not for him, I would not be here today,” Saez-Co said.
“Where can you find that kind of a person who personally assists you? I’m not the only kidnap victim he saved – you can ask the others he rescued. I just want to say what kind of a person Sir Ping is. You can see his integrity at work. He is truthful, personable, and Godly,” he added.
Lacson is now heading into the last six months of his third term in the Senate.
He led the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force from 1998 to 2001, bringing KFR cases across the country to zero.
But his most famous rescue occurred when he was still an officer in the Philippine Constabulary’s Metropolitan Command in 1981. Then a lieutenant-colonel, Lacson led a team that saved Robina Gokongwei, daughter of John Gokongwei Jr., from a KFR group.
Lacson, through his Twitter account in 2019, later said the billionaire taipan offered him and his team P400,000 as they had rescued Robina Gokongwei “just before the ransom payment, so no ransom was paid.”
He politely declined the offer, so Gokongwei Sr. instead donated 10 patrol cars to the Philippine Constabulary – the forerunner of the present Philippine National Police.
Lacson would later become PNP chief in 1999, and enforced his personal “no-take policy” throughout the police force, which ended “kotong” (bribery) even among the rank and file during his three-year term. He then went on to win a Senate seat in 2001, becoming the guardian of the national budget through his scrutiny and impactful exposes.